HALESOWEN were left frustrated after failing to take the final wicket for victory over Wellington last Saturday.

They had posted 222 all out at Seth Somers Park to lay the foundations for the win. Middle order defiance came from Wes Griffiths (69) and Charlie Hartley (42) after Halesowen slipped to 83 for five, while Shropshire opening bowler Jack Twigger took 5-61 for the visitors, who closed on 143 for nine.

Just 20 points now separate third placed Halesowen and eighth placed Oswestry with Leamington a further seven points behind in ninth place after a winning draw against Himley.

Captain Alexei Kervezee said: "It was a strange sort of game as we were under the cosh at 83-5 with all our main batters back in the club house but as always our depth and was determination proved again and we recovered thanks to Wes, Charlie and youngster Hayden Evans.

"With the ball, Mushy Masharraf Shazad tied them in knots and we were just an inch away from knocking them over at 143-9 but I am not going to moan we are on a great run, third in the division and the season is well on track with our plans for the year.

"We move on to Himley next week who are always competitive and we look forward to that where we also have some key players returning."

The second team fared less well, however, losing to a vibrant Wombourne outfit in a fast scoring game.

Wombourne totted up 261-6 in their 50 overs thanks to Greg Clark (101) whilst Nathan Hines 3-59 and Archie Reeves 2-57 kept the remaining batsmen in check. In reply, Owen got off to a stuttering start at 44-4 but Kester Moseley (116) and Rob Horn (26) at one point put the visitors in with a chance but once they were removed Hales finished on 194 all out to lose by 67 runs but still stand second in the table.

In the third team game at Tenbury Wells, Naim Luhar’s 95 along with the returning Talha Iqlaq (43) saw Halesowen to a respectable 197. But Tenbury knocked them off to win by two wickets and see the thirds' first set back of the season. They remain top of the league however.

The fourth team chased 283 at the Earls High School Ground but the pressure of the task proved too much for the young side with only Ben Dunn (93) showing any kind of application for the target. Ending 200 all out they fell 83 short but the youthful nature of the team augurs well for the future.